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Published: January 17th 2020
Thai "long-tailed" boat
Easy to jump off to swim and snorkel but hard work climbing back on in deep water!Friday 17
th January 2020
We have just got the rucksacks out of the cupboard, have drawn up the packing list and shopped for most of the essentials that we need (medical, toiletries and so on). Just before Christmas, we visited the International Diseases Unit at the Vega Baja Hospital in Orihuela, as we always do before backpacking to tropical climes and were delighted to be told that all of our previous inoculations were still within their end dates, so no jabs required this time!
Our blogs are arranged into trips, so this blog is the first of Trip 9 on travelblog.org (other trips have been recorded elsewhere). Blogging is our way of preserving and treasuring the memories. We have just up-dated our profile text on travelblog, in preparation for this trip and checked on the blog stats for previous trips. We were amazed to see how the blog stats have added up so far: 201 blogs, 2,304 photos and 165,649 words on travelblog.org. The blogs for this trip to Thailand will probably contain less words and photos than the last two (Borneo and Canada) since it is to be all about beach-chill and island-hopping rather than sightseeing and wild-life spotting over large distances and in varied locations. The Southern Andaman Sea, where we are heading, between Phuket and the Malaysian border, is not a huge area. It is dotted with lush green islands and we shall see as many or as few of them as we feel like when we get there, travelling on small ferries and/or the famous Thai “long-tailed” boats.
We have already briefly sampled this luscious area. It is
truly luscious, with palm-fringed cerulean waters, verdant jungle-covered islands and towering limestone cliffs and karst stacks, jutting from the blue waters, bordered by white-sand beaches. We spent a few days here in 2009, staying in a lovely thatched “Buri” hut on Noppharat Thara Bay near Ao-Nang, just across Phangnga Bay from Phuket island. We snorkelled around two of the islands nearby, Koh Thup and Koh Poda. The photo attached to this blog is of a painting I did four years ago, of our “long-tailed” boat, moored off Koh Thup. Judging from what we have researched online, most of the region has changed little and is still unspoilt.
So, that was a brief “starters” taste of the region. Now for the main course! Four weeks of Thai "jai yen" (chill) and fabulous Thai food. This cannot be a bad way to spend February! Thailand provides great food for the body and the hospitality and scenic beauty provide food for the soul…
“Food for the body is not enough. There must be food for the soul” Dorothy Day
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maureen hebdige
non-member comment
Thailand.
So looking forward to reading your blogs. I am never sure if i would hit the comment subscribe or message tab so i hope my best wishes get to you and you have yet another wonderful adventure. Take care and stay well.